By DCist Contributor Mehan Jayasuriya

It's about an hour before The Pipettes are set to take the stage at the Black Cat and by rights, the band should be exhausted. This is the second gig on their first major North American tour and having flown in from their hometown of Brighton, England only a few days prior, you'd think that the band would be succumbing to the effects of trans-Atlantic jetlag. Unlike the dozing sound engineer on the dressing room couch, however, Gwenno and RiotBecki are characteristically energetic — sipping coffee, chatting up label reps and signing piles of promo flats. The final Pipette, Rosay, eventually strolls into the room, as do the members of the Pipettes' backing band, the Cassettes. "We're the groupies," mussy-haired drummer Joe Cassette deadpans self-deprecatingly.

Whereas most bands would have spent the day in their hotel room catching up on sleep, the Pipettes decided to devote their Saturday to that quintessential D.C. activity: tourism. "We managed to use public transport," Gwenno says, explaining how the band found their way back after being lost in the District. "It helps you get your bearings, I think." Though the band managed to visit all of the obligatory tourist sites, they were most impressed by a D.C. institution of a different sort. When asked what she liked best about D.C., Gwenno answers decisively, "Some Doo-wop singers we saw on the Mall." "They were amazing, brilliant," Becki adds.

For fans of the Pipettes, this response should come as no surprise. Since forming in 2003, the band has functioned as a living homage to the Brill Building, the Wall of Sound and the Motown Era. On stage, there's little to distinguish the Pipettes from the prototypical 60s girl group: they sport matching polka dot dresses, make liberal use of vocal harmonies and act out their lyrics with synchronized dance moves. Even their name – when pronounced the "proper" British way – sounds like a reference to Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

This is not to say, however, that The Pipettes are merely a revivalist throwback. The band infuses their 60s sound with modern ideas drawn from indie rock, lo-fi and, as nose-ring wearing RiotBecki reminds us, the Riot Grrrl movement. Unlike the girl groups of the 50s and 60s, the Pipettes can be – and quite often are – overtly sexually assertive. Whereas the Ronettes once sang "I wasn't in the slightest hurry/To fall in love and give my heart away" the Pipettes sing "I don't want to be wined and dined/I just want to bump and grind." The end result is pop music that's as empowering for girls as it is beguiling for boys: call them a post-feminist, indie pop update on the girl group, if you must.

Like most good pop groups, however, there is a hint of artifice in The Pipettes' history: the band's members were recruited by promoter, performer and Cassettes guitarist Monster Bobby, who was struck by inspiration after noticing the reaction that classic girl group cuts got during his DJ sets. This fact has led some detractors to accuse the band of being "manufactured" or somehow disingenuous, even though these sorts of Rockist arguments about authenticity have never held sway over Pop music. Monster Bobby doesn't seem bothered much by these sorts of accusations anyway; unlike the classic Pop impresario, Bobby maintains a high level of visibility, even opening up for the Pipettes on this particular tour.

While charming, endearing and often downright funny, Monster Bobby's set left a bit to be desired musically. Upon arriving on stage, Bobby punched a button on his sampler, filling the room with the sound of an audience cheering. He profusely thanked his imaginary throngs of fans before shutting off the sample and queuing up a beat for opening number "Let's Check Into A Hospital Together." While Bobby's guitar playing and accompanying samples – reversed Casio presets, lo-fi beats and bubbly synths – were quite palatable, his vocals often fell short, making his clever lyrics and witty banter seem more like well-placed distractions. A few songs even found him yelling atonally during the choruses, in a manner perhaps more appropriate for a lazy roommate than an audience.

Luckily, the next act, Seattle indie pop wunderkinds Smoosh, fared much better. Ever since releasing their first record three years ago – when sisters Asya and Chloe were only 12 and 10, respectively – Smoosh have been turning heads in the indie rock scene with their surprisingly well-constructed keyboard pop. During their set, which consisted of equal parts old songs and new numbers from last year's excellent Free To Stay, the pair bounced around on stage exuberantly. While the sisters did seem a little uncomfortable when addressing the crowd (a problem that will undoubtedly rectify itself in the years to come), they seemed perfectly at ease with each other on stage, often trading glances and wide, braces-bearing grins in the middle of songs. Younger sister Chloe, now 13, really must be seen to be believed — her driving, relentless drumming is worth the price of admission alone (fun fact: her drum teacher is Death Cab for Cutie's Jason McGerr). Before playing their last song, the dark and slinky "La Pump," singer and keyboardist Asya told the crowd, "We're touring with a band called The Pipettes and Monster Bobby and we're really excited." What was exceptional about that commonplace statement was that Asya sounded like she really meant it.

Smoosh was so good that we were able to make it through the entire set without demeaning the band by calling them "cute" — but then their roadie, younger sister Maia, came on stage in rainbow suspenders to help them cart off gear and well, that was just about the cutest thing ever.

Needless to say, we were primed and ready to have a good time by the time The Pipettes hit the stage in their matching black and white polka dot dresses, though we weren't quite ready for the gauntlet that was about to be thrown down. "We had a gig in Toronto last night and I must say, they were very good dancers," RiotBecki said, adding, "Don't let Washington D.C. down." On their first American single, "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me," (to be represented on the band's first U.S. release, an EP due out this week), the band elicited a little crowd participation in the form of a finger wag, during the song's bridge. There were certainly a lot of wagging fingers in the air – even Smoosh's Chloe joined in from the side of the stage – but not a lot of dancing. Admittedly, this wasn't due to any lack of enthusiasm on the part of The Pipettes but rather, the initial self-consciousness of the shoe-gazing crowd at the Black Cat. "There was some lovely swaying going on there," Gwenno remarked at the song's close.

On standout track "It Hurts To See You Dance So Well," the girls struck tongue-in-cheek Charlie's Angels poses while the four-piece Cassettes laid down a jangly groove, facing the back wall in their matching yellow sweater vests (not wanting to divert attention from the girls, naturally). Before unveiling the new song "Baby Don't Leave Me," the band asked if anyone in the audience was in love and predictably, one fan shouted back "I love you!" The song itself seemed more refined than the band's earlier material, with Gwenno hitting the higher registers of her voice on the chorus, to stunning effect. Following the chorus, the band members faced the back wall and turned around one-by-one, each asking, "What if you leave me?" until the three-part harmony was complete — an admittedly derivative move, though no worse for the wear.

"Our songs are usually about two things," Becki announced afterward, "dancing and love." New B-side "Guess Who Ran Off With The Milkman?" shimmered and soared, its verses punctuated by sha-la-las and hand claps while another new number, "By My Side," found the girls snapping their fingers into the microphones and jerking their arms around like clock hands. On the organ-driven "Judy," Rosay took a turn at the keyboard while the other two girls alternately waved and paddled their arms to the beat. Despite the notable absence of the recorded version's string and horn arrangements, the song still sounded huge.

Before introducing "One Night Stand," Becki briefly reminisced about her trip to the White House earlier in the day. "How fitting that I thought of this song as I walked past there." Belying the song's bouncy tone, the chorus delivered a fairly harsh message to a love struck young man: "I don't love you/I don't want you… Leave me alone/You're just a one night stand." Closing out the set proper was the band's best song and one of the strongest singles to come out of the U.K. last year, the triumphant "Pull Shapes." The song featured the most varied and fitting dance moves of the night from the Pipettes and proved so infectious that by the set's close, most of the room was dancing wildly. During the bridge, the girls repeatedly sang "Clap your hands/If you want some more" until all but the beat dropped out of the mix and judging from the response, the Black Cat really wanted some more.